I THINK WE ALL KNOW THE WONDERFUL TALE OF HOW THE GREEK TITAN, PROMETHEUS, UPSTAGED ZEUS AND CARRIED THE GODS' FIRE TO THE HUMANS. AND, FOR THIS FELONIOUS ACT, HE WAS SHACKLED TO A ROCK ON MOUNT CAUCUSUS WHERE AN EAGLE PERPETUALLY GNAWED AT HIS EVER-REPLENISHING LIVER. NOW, IT WAS KNOWN THAT PROMETHEUS DID NOT ACT ALONE, THAT, IN FACT, HIS BROTHER EPENETHEUS HAD HELPED WITH THE TASK, BUT THIS COULD NOT BE PROVEN. SO, INSTEAD OF THE TERRIBLE PUNISHMENT LIKE THAT OF PROMETHEUS, THE GODS DEVISED A MORE SUBTLE TYPE OF PUNISHMENT FOR HIM...THE BEAUTIFUL PANDORA WHO WOULD BE SENT TO BECOME HIS WIFE.

HER NAME MEANS "ALL-GIFTED" AND THAT SHE WAS. AT ZEUS'S COMMAND, HER BODY WAS CREATED OUT OF CLAY AND FIRE BY HEPHAESTUS, THE CLEVER BLACKSMITH OF THE HEAVENS. AND THE, ALL OF THE GODS GATHERED TO GIVE HER GIFTS. APHRODITE GIFTED HER WITH GREAT BEAUTY; HERMES WITH CLEVER SPEECH; AND APOLLO WITH MUSIC. HEPHAESTUS PLACED A GOLDEN CROWN ON HER HEAD WHICH HE HAD ENGRAVED WITH MAGICAL SYMBOLS. THE HORAE WREATHED HER IN A WIDE ARRAY OF FRESH FLOWERS. SHE WAS TRULY THE LOVELIEST MORTAL WOMAN WHO HAD YET BEEN PLACED UPON THE EARTH.

HOWEVER, THERE WAS ANOTHER GIFT WHICH I HAVE YET TO MENTION. IT WAS THE GIFT FROM HERA, THE GODDESS OF MARRIAGE. SHE GAVE PANDORA THE GIFT OF INSATIABLE CURIOSITY. WE'LL NEVER KNOW WHY HERA CHOSE THAT GIFT. PERHAPS IT WAS BECAUSE SHE DISLIKED THE IDEA OF CREATING A PASSIVE VIRGIN TO BE PAWNED OFF AS A HELPLESS BRIDE, FOR SHE HERSELF, COULD NEVER BE CALLED A PASSIVE WIFE. IN FACT, WE FIND IN HERA THE IMAGE OF A WOMAN WHO FIGHTS TO BE HEARD AND IS NOT DISMISSED IN MARRIAGE, A WOMAN WHO WAS CONSTANTLY REBELLING AGAINST THE STEREOTYPE OF THE HUMBLE AND OBEDIENT WIFE.

SO, WHEN PANDORA WAS SENT TO EARTH TO BE WITH EPINETHEUS, THE GODS ALSO PROVIDED HER WITH A DOWRY; IT WAS A STRANGE LIDDED JAR WHICH, UNBEKNOWNST TO PANDORA, WAS FILLED WITH ALL OF THE HORRIBLE ILLS THAT PLAGUE PEOPLE BY DAY AND MALADIES OF THE NIGHT. SHE IS TOLD NOT TO OPEN THE JAR, BUT, OF COURSE, WE MUST REMEMBER HERA'S GIFT. SO, FOR A TIME SHE AGREES TO AND PLAYS THE PART OF THE PERFECT, SUBMISSIVE WIFE. BUT EVENTUALLY, HOWEVER, SHE CAN NO LONGER CONTAIN HERSELF AND OPENS THE JAR...AND AS EVERYONE KNOWS...THIS ONE ACT UNLEASHED ALL THE ILLS OF HUMANKIND WHICH HAVE TROUBLED US EVER SINCE.

BUT, ONE THING REMAINED IN THE BOTTOM OF THE JAR AND THAT WAS HOPE...HOPE WHICH HAS BEEN WITH US ALWAYS. AND, WHENEVER WE ARE TROUBLED BY DISEASE AND DEATH, IT IS THIS HOPE THAT KEEPS US AFLOAT.

Baba Yaga is the Russian spirit who rules the conjunction of magic and harsh reality, of limits and possibilites. This Death Spirit provides fertility when she chooses, but she also consumes those who disappoint her.

Baba Yaga, iron-toothed and boney-legged, wears a neclace of human skulls; her ome is surrounded by a fence crafted from human bones. She offers comprehension, not comfort.

Like her compatriot spirits, Kali and La Santisima Muerte, Baba Yaga encompasses all the mysteries of life and death; contemplate her in order to begin to comprehend these mysteries. This spell doesn't suggest contacting her (the Baba has little patience; don't waste her time without good reason), but this kind of magical contemplation instead.

* Build an altar featuring birch wood and leaves, animal imagery, a mortar, pestle and broom, and "food and drink. Baba Yaga is always voraciously hungry. Offer her real food or cut out photo images for the altar. She is especially fond of Russian extravagances like coulibiac. Offer her a samovar with blocks of fine Russian caravan tea and perhaps a water pipe.

* Sit with the altar, gaze at it from different angles, play with the objects and see what comes to mind" Encyclopedia of 5000 "